OUR VIEW: Happy Veterans Day
Every day we walk amongst a crowd of faces we forget seconds after passing. We rarely contemplate their roots, their motivations or the indirect impact they may have in our lives. What do we think when we walk past a man or woman dressed in a camouflage suit or an uncreased collared shirt and a service cap, always complimented with perfectly polished shoes?
Our colleagues who serve in the armed forces do stand out on campus, but the way the military impacts them and their families’ lives is often forgotten. Chances are, every person on campus knows at least one person who has protected or does protect our country, whether it be in the Marines, Navy, Air Force, Army, National Guard or Coast Guard. Is the man wearing combat boots who sits in the third row of biology the same man that left his new wife for six months to serve in Afghanistan? Do enough people recognize that this man’s sacrifices are one of the reasons Logan sleeps soundly at night? Every day USU students are flying to the Middle East, suspending their schooling and saying goodbye to their families, friends and homes.
We live among veterans, many of whom are in their early 20s, still trying to figure out what they want to do with the rest of their lives. Many of our professors have served as well. Perhaps we do not verbally express our appreciation to those in the armed forces that we see because we cannot comprehend what they experience during an average day, whether they are on active duty or inactive.
Every year, USU has a celebration to honor those veterans in our area. We would like to urge everyone to support the men and women in uniform who support our community and our country every day Supporting veterans can be as easy as acknowledging their service: extending your hand, looking them in the eye and saying “thank you.” Give someone who is missing a deployed loved one some company. Donations to soldiers overseas are easy to become involved in. Making an effort to commemorate Veteran’s Day our lives is a simply task, but first, we simply must remember that veterans are largely the reason why we often feel peace in our surroundings and have hope for more peace in our country.